"Monk" Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike (2006)

Director:

Jerry Levine

Writers:

Andy Breckman (creator)
Andy Breckman (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Monk" (2002)

Original Air Date:

14 July 2006 (Season 5, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

A city-wide garbage strike throws Monk completely off his game as he tries to solve the murder of a union boss.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | Murder | Widower | Multiple Actors For One Character

Cast

Tony Shalhoub	...	Adrian Monk
Traylor Howard	...	Natalie Teeger
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Lt. Randall Disher
Ted Levine	...	Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
Chi McBride	...	Mayor Ray Nicholson (as Chi Mcbride)
David DeLuise	...	Larry Cutler (as David Deluise)
Silas Weir Mitchell	...	Drugstore Manager
Robert Blanche	...	Union Vice President
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Jimmy Cusack
Jayden Lund	...	Morris
Lonnie Colón	...	Ronnie
Alice Cooper	...	Himself
Stanley Kamel	...	Dr. Charles Kroger
Frank Clem	...	Ron Neely
Darlene Kegan	...	Reporter #1

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White (some sequences)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Company:

Kaledo Dritte Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Captain Stottlemeyer and Lt. Disher drive up to stop Monk from trying to pick up all the garbage on his own, they park the car behind a huge line of piled up trash bags. The camera then cuts to Monk driving the garbage truck, and when it cuts back to the two getting out of the car all the garbage is gone.

Quotes:

Adrian Monk: This is what happened.
[pauses]
Adrian Monk: I mean, this is what *really* happened.

With a title like this. . .

As soon as I saw the title of "The Garbage Strike," I knew this episode was going to be hilarious. The Sanitation Union has gone on strike for better wages, and when the union leader is found dead, the union members become even angrier and less willing to negotiate. As another reviewer wrote, this show gets off to a weak start: in an uncharacteristic turn (probably caused by his anxiety over the garbage in the streets), Monk tries to pass off the leader's murder as a suicide. He hopes that if the union members see the death as a suicide, they will reconcile with city leaders and start collecting the garbage again. However, at Natalie's insistence, Monk soon comes clean and begins investigating the murder. This is a typical Monk case with lots of details and twists. As the reeking bags of garbage pile up all over the city, Monk's already fragile mental state deteriorates even more, with hysterical results. Be sure to stay tuned for Alice Cooper's hilarious cameo!